Tim Cook is making his Indian debut just as the country emerges as one of the last large growth markets in the smartphone world, while sales in the United States and China begin to taper off.
On his maiden visit to India the Apple CEO's diary seems to be full with visits across the country in Gurugram, Delhi, Hyderabad and Mumbai.
Tim Cook's visit to India comes at a time when the US technology giant is hit by slower growth in global sales of its flagship products -- iPhone, iPad and Mac.
Among other officials, he is due to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi later on Saturday. Cook had met Modi at a Silicon Valley event in the US last September, where they discussed manufacturing plans under Modi's 'Make in India' initiative. Tim Cook's schedule is believed to also include meetings with industry partners.
“In Delhi, after greeting employees at the Apple's corporate office at One Horizon Centre in Gurugram, he is expected to visit iZen Store (Apple authorised reseller) in Green Park and the iWorld Store (Apple premium store) in Ambience Mall in Gurgaon," an Apple source told IANS.
Cook is in India after a visit to China, where Apple announced a USD 1 billion investment in the local ride-hailing app Didi Chuxing.
The fact is that Apple's manufacturing partner Foxconn is present here and is looking to set up a manufacturing base in the country.
Earlier this year, Apple opened a development centre in Hyderabad, also home to Microsoft's first India office, where engineers are working on Apple Maps.
Apple is also expected to announce plans for a startup accelerator in India to work more closely with the Indian developer community that works on Apple's iOS and OS X software platforms.
According to Reuters’ sources, Modi is likely to press Cook to set up production facilities in India, as part of the government's plan to find jobs for millions of Indians joining the workforce every year. Apple is in separate talks to open its first official retail store in the world's third-largest smartphone market.
Cook's India visit, could run into the weekend, also includes meetings with industry partners. On Friday, Cook is expected to meet Bharti Airtel's Sunil Mittal.
Cook, who joined Apple in March 1998, was made chief executive of the company, succeeding Steve Jobs, on August 24, 2011.
Hit by slower growth in the sale of its flagship products iPhone, iPad and Mac globally, Apple's revenue dropped for the first time since 2003 as the tech giant released earning reports for the second quarter of fiscal 2016 in March.
The company on April 27 posted a quarterly revenue of USD 50.6 billion and quarterly net income of USD 10.5 billion (USD 1.90 per diluted share), compared to revenue of USD 58 billion and net income of USD 13.6 billion (USD 2.33 per diluted share) in the year-ago quarter.
The revenue was down in both Americas and China -- Apple's two biggest territories. It declined around 10 per cent in the Americas and 26 per cent in China.
According to reports, the company is looking for new growth markets like India after its sales declined.
In the last two years of Modi as prime minister, top global executives have lined up to visit India. These include Jeff Bezos, Amazon CEO; Satya Nadella, India-born CEO of Microsoft; Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg; Sundar Pichai, Chennai-born CEO of Google and Jack Ma, chairman of Alibaba, among others.
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